The Ideological Origins of American Federalism.

• Author: Somin, Ilya
• Position: Book review

The Ideological Origins of American Federalism

Alison LaCroix

Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2010, 320 pp.

As has often been the case in American history, federalism is once again a major focus of political debate. Numerous recent political conflicts focus at least in part on the constitutional balance of power between the states and the central government. The lawsuits challenging the recently passed Obama health care plan, the federal bailout of state governments during the current economic crisis, and the conflicts over social issues such as medical marijuana and assisted suicide are just a few of the more prominent examples.

Alison LaCroix's new book traces the modern debate over federalism back to its 18th century origins. In a fascinating analysis, she advances "an ideological approach to understanding the origins of American federalism" (p. 9.20). In her view, 18th century Americans developed "a new federal ideology" characterized by the "core ... belief that multiple independent levels of government could legitimately exist within a single polity, and that such an arrangement was not a defect to be lamented but a virtue to be celebrated" (p. 6).

LaCroix traces American constitutional theories of federalism back to colonial-era debates over the scope of British authority over the North American colonies. Beginning in the 1760s, many Americans argued that the British Parliament's power over the colonies was limited and confined to a specific class of issues. They therefore claimed that many of the new taxes and regulations adopted by Parliament in order to increase revenue from the colonies were constitutionally illegitimate. For example, American theorists, as well as British supporters such as William Pitt, argued that Parliament could impose "external" taxes on the colonies in order to regulate trade, but lacked the authority to impose "internal" taxes whose purpose was to raise revenue. Many of the colonists also objected to the British government's Privy Council and its authority to veto laws enacted by colonial legislatures.

LaCroix also traces how American colonial advocates of limits on Parliamentary authority were influenced by earlier efforts to allow Scotland and Ireland a measure of autonomy within the British Empire. She emphasizes the influence of the Scottish precedent on Americans, pointing out that Scotland enjoyed a high degree of autonomy during its first 100 years of union with England, prior to the...